I write because I don’t say a lot, but I have a lot to say. I write, because someone out there, lost his/her voice, and will know, that they are not all alone. I write, because no matter how still I may appear, there is a fluttering deep down — reverberating — sending waves through my body to my fingertips. I write, because when I write, I defy time, gravity, thieves, lawlessness .. and the chains of insecurity. I write, because when I write, I travel to the very cracks I’ve slipped through, and there, I am found.

As I wrote Just Beneath the Surface, I remember wanting to convey several things: the importance of communication, the importance of listening to our instincts, and dispelling the myths about domestic violence.

At the time of writing this book, I noticed that many people empathized with women who were being abused, but I also noticed that many people were harsh. I noticed that many people were judging the woman who chose not to leave, assuming that she was weak, or saying that she deserved to suffer, if she was not ‘smart’ enough to leave. In my opinion, through everything that happens in life, we have to remember to relate to one another; that is what inspired my novel, Just Beneath the Surface.

The things being said bothered me, but the fact that those ideas were a misunderstanding, more than anything, inspired me. If I could change just one point of…